Oven or retort for treating tarry matter and the like



Nov. 24, 1931. A. s. KNowLEs 1,832,867

OVEN QR RETORT FOR TREATING TARRY MATTER AND THE LIKE wafww NOV. 24, 1931. i A, s. KNOWYLES 1,832,867

OVEN OR RETORT FOR TREATING TARRY MATTER AND THE LIKE Filed May 26, 1926 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 I 6 6 ff/71. +5 20 Z 0 a l /9 /c ZZ g /6 I Patented Nov. 24, 193i.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ALEXANDER STEPHEN KNOWLLES, F ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI; LOUISE 1-I. KNOWIJES, OF BAYSIDE, LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK, EXECUTRIX OF SAID ALEXANDER S. KNOWLES, DECEA'SED, ASSIGNOR TO TAR PETROLEUM PROCESS COMPANY, OF CHICAGO,

ILLINOIS, .A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS OVEN 0R RETORT FOR. TREATIN'G TABBY MATTER AN D TlllilI LIKE .Application med Hay 26, 192B. Serial No. 111,678.

My invention relates to Ovens or retorts and especially to ovens intended for dehydrating, distilling and crackingtars and oils or for coking the residue of petroleum distillation and cracking processes. On account of the high temperature required for such operations, it has heretofore been the practice to make such ovens of fire brick or other refractory material; and it is one of the objects of 1o my invention to devise an oven suitable for the purposes mentioned and which will opcrate in such manner as to enable steel plates or the like to be substituted in large part for the heavy and expensive refractory material lai' heretofore used. Another object is to facilitate and, expedite the charging and discharging of the oven; to provide for the eicient transfer and conservation of heat and the driving olf of the volatile matter during the terminal stage of the process; and to provide for economy of fuel and the elimination of water or of other volatile matter, The invention consists principally in an oven with a floor heated from below and with a top portion of steel plate or the like. It also consists in such an oven rovided with trackways extending endwise thereof and containers for loose carbonaceous material slidably mounted on said trackways. It also consists in such an oven wherein the containers are supported slightly above the floor of the oven, and means for injecting steam or gas in the space between said floor and said containers. It also consists in certain detailsand in the combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings which form part of this specication and wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts '40 wherever they occur,

Fig. l is a vertical cross-section on the line 1-1 of Fig. 2 of a single chamber oven embodying my invention; U

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectlon of 15 said oven on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section of a multiple chamber oven embodying my invention;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view of the oven shown in Fig. 3, the section being indicated by the broken line 4 4 of said Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a vertical longitudinal section of the oven shown in Fig. 3 on the plane indicated by the line 5-5 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view on tle lane indicated by the broken line 6-6 o 1g. 3. v

The oven illustrated in the accompanying drawings comprises a substantially rectangular retort chamber underlying which is a base portion 1 of refractory material through 'which three sets of fluesextend horizontally.

The uppermost set'or` flues 2 extend crosswise of the length'of the retort chamber or oven, from side to side thereof, and communicate at their ends with a lower set of flues 3, 3 which also extend inwardly or cross-wise through suitable checkerwork 4 from the opposite sides of the structure and communicate at their inner ends with longitudinally disposed flues 5, 5, the lues of the second set on one side of the structure communicating with one of the longitudinal flues and the iues on the other side communicating with the other longitudinal flue. Both of the longitudinal flues communicate with a suitable stack 6 and each is provided with two dampers, one damper 7 controlling the passage to the stack and the other damper 8, which is located between said first mentioned damper 7 and the oven, controlling an opening to the atmosphere. Suitable pipes or 'et burners 9 extend through the o posite si es of the oven into the opposite en s of the flues of the first set and communicate through valved pipes 1() with a suitable fuel supply. The system of flues thus arranged constitutes a regenerator and operates as follows Assuming that fuel is being fed to the burners 9 on the right side of the oven, the valves in the supply pipes of thel left side burners are closed, the stack damper 'Z of the longitudinal flue, with which the second set of tlues o n the right side communicate, is closed and the air damper 8 thereof opened, and the other stach damper opened and the other air damper closed. Under these conditions, the fuel delivered by the right side burners is supplied with air that enters the right side longitudinal flue and passes through the checlrerwork of the right side tlues of the second set; and the products or combustion of the right side burners pass through the topmost tlues and thence through the clieclrerwork of the left side l'lues of the second set and thence through the left side longitudinal flue to the stack. In this operation, the products of combustion of the right side burners first heat the sole of the oven and then heat the left side checkerworlr; and when the right side burners are shut od and the left side burners used (the dampers being correspondingly changed) the air therefor is preheated by passing through the checkerwork on the 'left side which has already been heated by the products of combustion of the right side burners. ln practice, this alternation in the use of the right side and left side burners is effected at suitable intervals.

'1`he floor of the retort chamber or oven is prelerably lined with sheets 11 of steel or other metal; and the top l2 of the oven is in the form of a flat or domeshaped steel roof which is supported on low walls 13 of refractory material and extends far enough above the floor to afford room for the bed lll of loose material hereinafter mentioned and an ample vapor space above the same. 'l`he low side walls are preferably provided with trackways 15 extending lengthwise thereof and adapted for carriers 16 to slide or roll upon. r1`hese carriers are of any suitable form such as large steel containers or cars with lateral projections that overlap the side tracliways and rest directly thereon or are provided with wheels or rollers that rest on said trackway. The body of the carrier is preferably suspended between the sides of the oven but its sides are preferably spaced from the sides of the oven and its bottom is spaced from the bottom of the oven. Preferably, the bottom of the carrier is a plate with perforations extending therethrough, whose margins 17 are lianged up so as to permit the passage of vapors upwardly through the perfoi-ations and still permit the accumulation of a small depth of liquid in the carrier. The oven may be lon enough to accoinmodate a number of suc carriers, which may be positioned within and removed from the oven through doors 23 at the ends thereof.

Inside the oven are a number of plates 18 that are hinged to the sides of the oven or adapted to be tilted on their edges along such sides, the inner margins of these plates being normally held against or close to the eer roof of the oven by suitable devices, such, for instance, as cables or chains 19 that pass down through the roof of the oven to the inner margins of the respective plates. The lines along which such plates pivot or swing are preferably about the same elevation as the tops of the carriers so that, when the inner ends of such plates are let down, the plates will rest flatwise against the charge in said carriers andv serve as lids therefor. Normally, the plates are held in their raised position, but they are lowered when spraying of the bed is finished and a higher temperature is required quickly to bring the contents of the container to dryness.

At one end, or preferably at both ends, the oven is provided with means 20 for feeding thereto the material to be treated. Such material comprises tarry and pitchy mattei' and the heavy viscous and solid residues of hydrocarbon cracking processes. The viscous liquid matter is heated suitably to malte it fiuid and is injected through a nozzle or spraying device 21 located preferably in the front or rear of the oven at a point above the top of the carriers; and such device is preferably arranged to permit it to be moved back and forth lengthwise of the oven and to be rotated on its axis. Preferably such manipulation is effected mechanically, continuously or at intervals, or by an attendant who regulates the feed according to the temperature, as shown by instruments, inside of the oven.

ln practical operation, the carriers are filled to a greater or less depth with carbonaceous material 14, such as anthracite coal, or coke graduated as to ineness, and the flues are heated until the floor is raised to the required temperature, depending on the avity of the material to be treated and the depth, of the bed, (say, 500 to 1000D 0.). The attendant then feeds the liquid carbonaceous material to be treated onto the surface of the beds in said carriers. As the beds are heated from below, the hottest part of the bed is the lowest part and the material fed to the bed reaches the coolest portion thereof first and travels towards the hottest portion. r)The result is that the most volatile content of the' material undergoing treatment is vaporized at or close to the surface of the bed or even before reaching the bed, while the least volatile matter flows into the lower and hotter portion of the bed, where the liquid portion is vaporized and passes 0E through the outlet pipe 22. As the operation of vaporizing the material absorbs considerabl( heat, it may happen that the continuous feeding of an excessive amount of material will cool a portion of the bed below the point where the least volatile portion of the material is vaporized; and in this case, such unvolatilized material is trapped at the bottom of the bed and Hows toward a portion of oven, means such Yas pipes 2d are provided.l

for drawing it 0H to be recovered on the' outside as dehydrated or partially distilled product.

As stated above, the bottom of the carrier 1s spaced away from the bottom of the oven Vand has upwardly flanged openings therein.

The purpose of this arrangement is to permit steam, to be forced into the space between the bottom of the carrier and the bottom of the oven, where it actsas a vehicle for conducting the heat from the bottom of the oven to the carrier and also to force its Way through the openings in the bottom of the carrier and the bed of material therein to the upper portion of the oven. During this operation, it cooperates with the vapor of the materiall undergoing treatment in forcing the passageways therefor through said bed and also serves to entrain and carry such vapors to the space above the bed and thence also to the condensation chambers which communicate with the vapor space of the oven. Where the material undergoing treatment contains a considerable percentage of ingredients that volatilize at high temperatures, the use of steam in the manner' stated is quite desirable; but where the material undergoing treatment does not require high temperature, such steam may be dispensed with.

The heating of the oven from below, as above described, has several important advantages. In the vfirst place, the more volatile matter is eliminated in the surface portion of the bed without materially decreasing the temperature of the bottom of the bed which is, therefore, kept in condition to treat the material that is most difficult to volatilize. In' the next place, the greater portion of the work is done in the upper portion of the bed and the temperature in the vapor space of the oven is considerably lower even than the temperature of the surface of the bed. It is noted, however, that ori-account of the relatively low temperature in the vapor space, particularly in the absence of steam as mentioned above, the vapors must be eliminated by means of suction fans or other apparatus of the kinds usually used for the purpose. Aside from these advantages, a sheet metal dome has the great advantage of being far less expensive than a dome of refractory material. Besides, it is practicable to make ovens with sheet metal domes any desired width; whereas, `on account of its great weight and other physical difficulties, the practicable width of a dome of refractory material is necessarily limited. In the practice 0f my invention, '1t is desirable to make the oven wide enough to receive several carriers alongside of each other and to divide the space into a plurality of parallel retort chambers or sections by partition walls that separate one line of carriers from another'. This arrangement is of great economic importance, because it reduces the amount of outer wall surface from which the heat would be wasted' by radiation. A similar advantage attaches to the length of the ovens; for, as the furnaces are located on the sides, the retort cham-- bers or ovens may be of any length required by economic or other considerations. Another important advantage of this arrangement is that the oven may beso tired that di'erent temperatures may be obtained at different portions of the oven lengthwise. Each unit, composed of two or more retort chambers or sections, is a complete plant, fiexible in its construction and operation, and in its heating system. The particular advantage in this type of regenera-tor in the complete unit is the amount of regeneration available by extending the checkerwork forming the regenerators as far as desired in the direction of the stack. The efficiency of the heating system in this way is increased to the economic limit.

The gas is burned on one side for a period of, say, thirty minutes, then reversed, the air to be preheated follows the gas fiames and the waste products the opposite direction to the stack.

In the 'course of operation, the bed of material in a carrier becomes more or less coated or impregnated with a deposite of carbon; and when the deposittends to fill the interstices in the bed to such extent as to interfere with the proper working thereof, the lid plates are raised, the door is opened, and the'l carrier is drawn out and discharged, then recharged, and restored to its former position. All of this can readily be done without interfering with the proper operation of adjoining sections of the oven.

Any material which contains binding property sufiicient to make it hold together with strength to withstand mechanical means for discharging it may be charged onto the refractory Hoor of the oven to certain depths and heated to effect the binding together into a salable product. In this case, no containers are used. and no steel, or other metal floor is required.

My oven, especially my multiple retort chamber oven hereinbefore described, is suitable for use not only for the treatment of tarry matter but also for coking coal. When used as a coking oven, the carriers and their beds of material, and preferably also the metal Hoor lining, are removed and the coal charged onto the Hoor of the oven preferably through the hole provided therefor in thc roof. When the operation of coking is completed, the coke is discharged in any usual Way, each chamber functioning as a complete unit.

1What l claim is:

l. An oven of the kind described comprising a substantially oblong retort chamber having a charging door at one end, a Hoor of refractory material for said chamber, a plurality of parallel heating flues extending transversely under said floor from side to side of the oven, and longitudinal flues communicating with said transverse flues andv with a stack.

2. An oven comprising a substantially oblong retort chamber having a floor of refractory material, heating fiues extending transversely under said floor from side to side of the oven, laterally disposed burners communicating directly With the opposite ends of said heating flues, and longitudinal flues comlminicating with said transverse flues and with a stack.

3. An oven for treating tarry matter and the like comprising a retort chamber having a fioor of refractory material, heating fines extending horizontally under said floor, a trackway in the retort chamber, loose material carriers movably mounted on said trackway, lids inovably mounted in said chamber and adapted to be lowered onto the upper surface of the material in said carriers, a device for feeding suoli tarry matter above said material. the bottoms of said carriers being spaced above the bottom of the retort chamber, and a device for sprayingsteam into the space between the iioor of said chamber and the bottoms of said carriers.

4. An oven for treating tarry matter and the like comprising a retort chamber having a fioor of refractory material, heating flues extending horizontally under said floor, a trackvvay in the retort chamber, loose material carriers movably mounted on said trackivay, lids mounted in said chamber to move into or out of position to cover said carriers, the bottoms of said carriers being spaced above the bottom of the retort chamber, a device for delivering such tarry matter above said material, a device for spraying steam iiito the space between the fioor of said chamber and the bottoms of said carriers, and a device for delivering vapor from the upper portion of said retort chamber.

An oven for treating tarry matter and the like comprising a substantially oblong retort chamber having a iioor of refractory material. al sct of heating flues extending under said floor from side to side of said chamber, a second set of transverse fiues below said first mentioned set, a third set of fiues extending longitudinally of the oven and communicating With a stack and with the atmosphere, and provided with means for controlling their communication with the stack and with the atmosphere, said second set of flues communi` cating with the first set of iues near the sides of the oven and communicating with the longitudinal dues near the middle of the oven, and burners at the opposite ends of the first mentioned flues, whereby the draft may be reversed and the air for the burners preheated.

6. An oven for treating tarry matter and the like comprising a plurality of horizontally elongated parallel retort chambers havin a heagiting flues extending under said ioor from side to side of said oven, and transversely of the elongated chambers, a second. set of transverse fiues below said first mentioned set, a third set of flues extending longitudinally of the chambers and communicating with a stack and With the atmosphere, and provided With means for controlling their communication vvith the stack and with the atmosphere, said second set of fiues communicating with the first set of flues near the sides of the oven and communicating with the longitudinal flues near the middle of the oven, and burners at the opposite ends of the first mentioned flues, whereby the draft may be reversed and the air for the burners preheated.

7. A multiple chamber distillation oven comprising a plurality of elongated parallel retort chambers having a floor, llues extending transversely of said oven under said plurarity of chambers for heating said floor, and a roof for said oven, said oven having doors at one end of each chamber, a charging opening in the roof, and a vapor outlet for each chamber.

8. A distillation oven comprising an elongated retort chamber provided With a charging door at one end, heating fines extending transversely from side to side of said chamber under the floor thereof, heating means at the opposite ends of said flues, a stack at one end of the oven, separate fiues extending longitudinally of the oven adjacent to the center line of said chamber, and communicating with the stack and With the atmosphere, dampers for controlling such communications, and fiues connecting the opposite ends of said heating flues with said longitudinal flues respectively.

9. A distillation oven comprising an elongated retort chamber provided ivith a charging door at one end, a plurality of heating flues extending transversely from side to side of said chamber under the ioor thereof :1t-intervals along its length, heating means at the opposite ends of said flues, a stack, fiues separatel connecting the opposite ends of said heating iues with the stack, and means or reversing the flow of air through said ues.

l0. A distillation oven comprising a horizontally elongated retort chamber divided by longitudinal partitions into a plurality of separate horizontally elongated floor of refractory material, a set of compartments, charging doors at one end of each of said compartments, a plurali of heating fiues extending transversely rom side to side of said chamber under said lurality of compartments at intervals a ong the length thereof, heating means at the opposite ends of said iiues, a stack, fiues separately connecting the opposite ends of said heating flues with the stack, and means for reversin the flow of air through'said flues. Signe at St. Louis, Missouri, this 21st day of May, 1926.

ALEXANDER STEPHEN KNOWLES. 

